Month: September 2013

1. What are you currently reading? Tell us about it.
I just finished Orange is the New Black. I’m sure you’ve heard of (or hopefully watched!) the Netflix show based on this memoir. Both are so good!! It’s about a woman who is sent to prison for 13 months for a drug offense over a decade old. I am also reading Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick but I’m not that into either one of them yet. AND I just got The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty in at the library today, which I am super excited to start because I loved her book What Alice Forgot.

2. Autumn is coming! What’s your go-to drink when curling up with a book at night?
Wine of course!

3. Printed books vs. e-books: What are the pros and cons of each?
I only read printed books… I could see buying an e-reader if I was traveling around the world or something but I’ve never had one and have no desire to.

4. Buying books vs. library books: Which do you prefer and why?
The library!! I am a librarian!! Why buy books when you can check them out for free? They just take up space and collect dust. I never re-read books. The only books I purchase are travel guidebooks or novels if I’m getting them signed by the author (can’t wait for YALLFest!!).

I am using this book for the Treasure Hunt (a family relationship), Women Challenge, Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge, and 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Summary from Goodreads: From an early age, Kate and her identical twin sister, Violet, knew that they were unlike everyone else. Kate and Vi were born with peculiar “senses”—innate psychic abilities concerning future events and other people’s secrets. Though Vi embraced her visions, Kate did her best to hide them. Now, years later, their different paths have led them both back to their hometown of St. Louis. Vi has pursued an eccentric career as a psychic medium, while Kate, a devoted wife and mother, has settled down in the suburbs to raise her two young children. But when a minor earthquake hits in the middle of the night, the normal life Kate has always wished for begins to shift. After Vi goes on television to share a premonition that another, more devastating earthquake will soon hit the St. Louis area, Kate is mortified. Equally troubling, however, is her fear that Vi may be right. As the date of the predicted earthquake quickly approaches, Kate is forced to reconcile her fraught relationship with her sister and to face truths about herself she’s long tried to deny.

Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. I loved this book just as I have loved the others the author has written (Prep and American Wife). There were some surprising twists but the ending was kind of a letdown. Still a great read.

I am using this book for the Treasure Hunt (something you don’t like = thorns), Women Challenge, Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge, and 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Summary from Goodreads: Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one. But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will. Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess. And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake. Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young. Most of the chosen do.

Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars. This book is an odd mix of fantasy and fairy tale but was very intriguing. I didn’t have a problem with Elisa’s weight in the book as others did. It was refreshing reading about a “fat” main character for a change. I did not care for the constant mentions of God and religion, but that’s just a personal preference… Still an awesome read!

I am using this book for the Dystopia Challenge, Women Challenge, Bookworm Bitches 2013 A-Z Title Challenge, Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, and Summer 2013 Book Challenge (a book it seems everyone but you has read).

Summary from Goodreads: In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Verdict: 5 out of 5 stars. I loved this book and devoured it quickly. It totally reminded me of the movie The Village however. Can’t wait to read the next in the series.

I am using this book for the Eclectic Reader Challenge (urban fantasy), Dystopia Challenge, Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks, and Summer 2013 Book Challenge (freebie).

Summary from Goodreads: ‘R’ is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead. Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows – warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can’t understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins. This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won’t be changed without a fight…

Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. I watched the movie when it came put in theaters, which was a mistake in this case. Couldn’t get that into the book in the beginning, but it was well-written and an interesting story. Lesson learned: Always read the book first!